


Just Rewards

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Sportsfest 2018 [93]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Humor, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 09:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16156235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: Suga and his team are going to get Kageyama to smile if it's the last thing they do, but after the first few attempts, Suga fears that it may actually be the last thing they ever do. Then a miracle happens.





	Just Rewards

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Sportsfest 2018 bonus round 4.

“It's unacceptable, Daichi. I don't know why you're arguing with me.” Suga crossed his arms and huffed.

Daichi shook his head and groaned. “Because it's none of our business, Suga. Leave the guy alone.”

Suga flicked Daichi’s forehead and stuck out his tongue. “Don't tell me you don't want to see it.”

“That’s —" Daichi sighed. “Okay, yeah. I do. I just don't want you harassing Kageyama because you’re curious about something that really doesn't matter.”

With a pout, Suga wheeled around and left the club room. He didn't need Daichi’s help. He could get Kageyama to smile, and he was sure he could recruit plenty of help from the rest of the team to do it.

The next day, Suga’s Make Kageyama Smile Squad set to work. The group consisted of Yachi, Kinoshita, Hinata, and Suga (of course). Everyone else on the team claimed being busy, fear of retribution from Kageyama, or some combination of the two. 

Hinata was the first volunteer, and minutes into his bid to get his cranky setter to crack a smile, Suga wished he had vetted Hinata’s plan before allowing it proceed. His entire being wilted as he watched Hinata parade up to Kageyama during lunch with his fists balled up and his cheeks puffed out. 

Suga wasn't at all prepared for Hinata to break out in song, loudly and discordantly belting what he was sure was a theme song to a poorly made shoujo anime. The tune rambled on about friendship and smiling, and even Suga wanted to barf at the saccharine lyrics. It was almost a relief when Kageyama balled up his empty milk carton and hurled it at Hinata’s face

Hinata stomped back over to Suga and glared in Kageyama’s direction. “Stupid Bakayama.”

Offering his kouhai a tight smile and a shrug, Suga said a silent prayer of thanks when Kinoshita showed up next dangling a set of earplugs. “He mentioned something about singing and I got morbidly curious, so I followed him around all day with earplugs in my pocket.” He snorted. “It was so much worse than I ever imagined.”

“Why didn't you stop him?” Suga hissed.

Kinoshita quirked a brow. “Really? Have you met me? Free entertainment like that doesn't come along every day.”

Unable to argue with the logic, Suga harrumphed. “You're not going to sing, are you?”

“Oh hell no.” Kinoshita pulled out a notecard and handed it to Suga. “A dozen corny jokes about volleyball. That kid is, like, seventy-five percent volleyball. Odds are he’ll like at least one of them.”

Suga nodded while he read, but his hopes slowly withered the further he got down the list. “These jokes are, um . . . something.”

Kinoshita nodded. “I think you mean terrible, but you know how it is. Gotta read the room.”

“I see.” Suga frowned. “You’re not going to —”

“Now?” Kinoshita shook his head. “I'm not an idiot. Look at him, he’s still pissed off because of Hinata. He's stabbing his bento with his chopsticks. I'd like to survive high school.”

Satisfied with a perfectly reasonable plan, Suga bid Kinoshita a good rest of the school day and went back to his own classroom. He kept a sharp eye out while on his way to practice, wondering when Kinoshita would make his move. His patience was rewarded when after practice Kinoshita tugged Kageyama to the side. 

Suga couldn’t hear the conversation, but judging by the way Kageyama stared blankly and Kinoshita’s animated movements slowly flagged and fails, this effort was a bust, as well. Kinoshita sought out Suga after his fruitless attempt and shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. He didn’t get the jokes.”

Offering a wide smile, Suga patted his shoulder. “Don’t mind, don’t mind. We’ll figure it out.”

However, Suga was rapidly losing faith that he would ever be able to coax an honest to goodness smile out of his prickly kouhai, and that defeat would be a bitter one. He could only hope that either he or Yachi would come up with a top notch idea before Suga had to relent and admit that maybe Kageyama just never smiled ever.

Suga’s own attempt went live two days later, when he managed to catch up to Kageyama right after morning practice. This time, he decided to go for a psychological approach. “Kageyama, what makes you happy?”

“Suga-san?” Kageyama blinked at him in puzzlement. 

Taking a fortifying breath, Suga pressed on. “What kind of stuff do you have or do that makes you genuinely happy? For me, I love spicy food and cop shows. I also like the smell of fresh cut grass.”

“Oh.” Kageyama’s brow knit in thought, and he scratched his head. “Volleyball. Milk. Curry.”

“Okay, I can work with that,” Suga thought out loud, ignoring Kageyama’s bemused look. “So a volleyball game with a big meal of curry and plenty of milk to drink after would be the best day ever, right?”

Kageyama nodded, and Suga set his mind to work, bidding his target goodbye. This would take some doing, but he was willing to put in the effort. After all, everyone deserved to smile at something they loved.

A meeting of the brain trust commenced later that day after practice, and Suga reported his findings. Hinata also chimed in, “He also likes sleeping.” 

“Everyone likes sleeping, Hinata,” Kinoshita replied. “It’s a free trial for death.”

Yachi almost spit out her drink, and Suga laughed. “I’ll add it to the list.” Turning back to Yachi, he asked, “So what brilliant strategy do you have planned?”

She flushed. “I haven’t thought of anything yet. I’ll let you know when I have something, Suga-senpai.”

“Good. Now, let’s plan this thing.” The four of them gather together to plot their final attempt to get Kageyama to crack a smile from the heart. Suga refused to believe he couldn’t do it or to give up on trying.

A few days peeled by while they waited for the opportunity, but events took a bizarre turn when Daichi offered to take the team out for meat buns at a different store than they usually went to. “They have cheese buns, and I’m in the mood for cheese,” Daichi explained.

Suga didn’t think twice about the proposition, and the whole team headed over there. He recognized the store from more than a few trips to Daichi’s house to do homework and enjoy being a dumbass teenager. It was a nice neighborhood with plenty of trees.

The group trickled to a halt when Daichi put up a hand. “Wait, I hear something.” They all quieted, and sure enough, the soft but distinct sound of distressed mews came from the direction of one of the trees dotting the sidewalk. Gathering around, they saw a kitten clutching a branch in the tree, its entire body quaking in fear.

“Poor thing,” Suga murmured, looking around for something he could climb to free it from the tree. “We’ll get you down, little one.”

Eyes fell on Tsukishima, who was the tallest by far, and he shook his head. “I can’t reach that far, and I’m not letting a cat land on my face.” 

Asahi, the next tallest, bit his lip. “What if I hurt it? It’s so small, and I’d have to jump to grab it.”

The argument was quickly settled, however, when Kageyama dropped his duffel bag and started spidering up the side of the tree until he was sitting next to the kitten on the tree branch. His fingers rubbed the fur around the cat’s ears until it relaxed, and he gently lifted it from the branch. Yamaguchi, the closest, received the cat when Kageyama passed it down, and Kageyama dropped down to the pavement from the tree almost like a cat himself.

The cat wriggled in Yamaguchi’s grasp, and when it wrestled free, it leapt from his grasp and right onto Kageyama’s nearby shoulder. It loudly purred while it headbutted the side of his face affectionately.

And there it was.

A soft, crooked, maybe even a little dopey smile spread across Kageyama’s face while he offered the kitten a few fingers to rub against, and Suga couldn’t look away. It was more than he had ever imagined. Better. Far better. Soft and good. Such a good.

Steamed buns tasted just a little bit better that day, and Suga enjoyed the fact that their increasingly convoluted group idea would no longer be necessary.

On the walk home, Daichi shook his head and chuckled. “You were right. That was definitely worth it.”

“Huh?”

“Why do you think I picked that place?” Daichi quirked a brow. “The cat belongs to the owner, and she gets trapped in that tree all the time. I’ve probably plucked her out of it a dozen times myself. We just got lucky Yamada-san didn’t feel like fetching her right away.”

Suga gawked at Daichi. “You mean you planned this?”

Daichi beamed. “Yacchan told me you guys were having trouble, and I had an idea. I figured if I could make it happen, you lot would leave the poor guy alone.” He shuddered. “I heard about Hinata’s singing thing. I should’ve stepped in when you asked. Nobody deserves that.”

Unable to argue with that, Suga and Daichi headed home. Suga received a text message, and he felt warm all over when he saw what was inside. Kinoshita had managed to snap a picture of smiling Kageyama, and he forwarded it to the entire Squad.

With lightning thumbs, he forwarded to Daichi and said, “Your reward for work well done. Thanks, Daichi.”

“It’s what I do.” Daichi squared his shoulders and gave a self-satisfied smile. “It’s what I do.”


End file.
